Tier One Tour-Play Testing

[3fees]

I'll be play testing a set of Tier One Tour tennis strings, got selected to play test thru stringnet, Manufacturer sending thru the mail, I'll post my results later on.

[Stringers]

Lmk what string they send you. I love their string. They just sent me an 18g of their Fire Wire string so that'll be my next setup

[Alexjc1]

I got selected too as a playtester.
I am really looking forward to it.

[bigmatt]

I got chosen, as well. Should be interesting.

[TierOneSportsOfficial]

Quick update: the string sample should be in the mail soon, they went out yesterday!

[heartattack]

how would we know if were been selected? i apply for it but there's nothing on the mail or e-mail. ;(

[jonestim]

Originally Posted by heartattack

how would we know if were been selected? i apply for it but there's nothing on the mail or e-mail. ;(

I was selected for the BHB7 one and received an email the same day it was posted that the people were selected.

I received no email this time. I'm guessing i was not selected.

[djNEiGht]

The few times I've been selected there was an email letting you know.

[Centerforward71]

I am currently testing all 4 offerings at 16 and 17 gauge I will post some finding when I gather more data. I want to start my review by saying that the customer service at tier one is excellent and their pre sales support was phenomenal. I will also start my review by saying that so far for the most part my players and myself like the 17G over the 16g. We are not taking durability into account performance is what we care about mostly. I'll stop there and start a thread later.

[Fuji]

I got selected as a tester as well. I don't remember for what string exactly, but I did get the confirmation email.

I'll post my experiences here once the string shows up.

Cheers,

-Fuji

[djNEiGht]

I'm interested in the Multi/Triumph. Any one hit with that yet? Mikler has a review but he said that there where other contributing factors that may have weighed in on his review (new racquet and injury)

[JDMasFCK]

I got the 18G Tour Status.. looking forward to reviewing it.. so far from what I can tell it's a shaped like BHB7

[mad dog1]

i will be playtesting Durafluxx, Tour Status and FireWire. looking forward to it!

thought i'd also share this bit of info. i asked Stephan of Tier One Sports what he recommends tension wise for the strings and here's his reply.

"Hi mad dog1,

Although each player has their string tension preference, we believe that these new-generaltion polys perform best in the 48-52 lbs range although we know of customers who string them as low as 40 lbs and as high as 57 lbs (both high level players).

I personally like to string them at 50 lbs.

String differences: Tour Status is the standard, crisp feeing poly. Customers say it plays similar to RPM and Black Code.
Durafluxx is pretty unique due to its soft but low powered impact. This string is NOT providing power and we recommend this string to high level players with high racket speeds. When you string this string at around 50 lbs it feels like you play Tour Status at 40 lbs but with more control. (Nowadays a lot of high level junior start playing with low racket tension)
Firewire definitely has the best ball bite. It almost looks like it takes chunks out of the ball when hitting with lots of spin!

My best advice is to string it at a tension that YOU would usually choose for a poly like RPM and then adjust accordingly in the next attempts.

String patterns, for more spin potential I would recommend a wider string pattern but you will loose some durability.

Hope that helps,

Regards,
Stephan"

[mad dog1]

String tested: Tier One Tour Status this is a shape poly; it appears to be a 6 or 8 sided string; strung up easily

Gauge of playtest string: 1.25
Tension used for playtest: 49#s strung on an electronic CP machine using a modified JayCee method
Regular string set up: Yonex Poly Pro Tour Yellow 1.25 @ 49#s strung on an electronic CP machine using a modified JayCee method
Racquet brand and model used for test: Vantage BC20
Power of test string: moderate power; less powerful than Tour Bite, but more powerful than Iontec, Lux 4G, Kirschbaum Super Smash Orange, and Yonex Poly Pro Tour Yellow.
Feel: offers very good feel for a shaped poly; offers better feel and touch than Tour Bite. in fact this string feels and plays remarkably similar to Head Sonic Pro Edge or a more comfy version of Tourna BHB7.
Spin: excellent in the spin dept; while Tour Bite adds more funk to the ball, Tour Status certainly has no problem generating loads of spin either
Comfort: Comfort was excellent. the string bed was neither overly stiff or too mushy.
Durability: Durability appears to be quite good. When I cut out the strings at around 6 hours, they were notched less than 1/3 of the way.
Playability Duration (share thoughts on if/how the playability changed over time): The optimimum playability window for me was 30 mins to 4 hours. it took about 30 mins for the stringbed to settle in and start opening up. after that, this stringbed was excellent. GREAT spin, control and pop. after 2 hours of hard hitting, the mains had started to move around a little bit but playability was still very good until the 4 hour mark. After that, the stringbed had lost its elasticity and started to feel a bit harsh and wiry. by 6 hours, the spin action was reduced, pop was noticeably down and control was compromised. routine shots that had previously been landing in were now sailing a bit long. I checked the tension with the RacquetTune app and after 6 hours, the tension had dropped 8#s.
Control (predictable trajectory? performance on different strokes and swing speeds?): Control was very good. In my BC20, Iontec and Yonex Poly Pro Tour provide excellen control - more pinpoint accuracy, but Tour Status was really good. Tour Status is more springy than Iontec or Poly Pro Tour so given that the BC20 is very flexy, i was not surprised i didn't get the same level of control w/ Tour Status that I get w/ my normal control setups.
Tension recommendations (after hitting it, would you recommend a different tension? Why?): I wouldn't change a thing with tension.

In conclusion, I really enjoyed Tour Status until the 4-5 hour mark when performance started dropping off. Excellent string. Great spin, feel and very good control and comfort. If it could maintain the same performance levels with minimal tension loss for up to 8-10 hours, this would be an awesome string in my book.

[3fees]

Originally Posted by Stringers

Lmk what string they send you. I love their string. They just sent me an 18g of their Fire Wire string so that'll be my next setup

I got the Victory Series I , Tour Status , 17 gauge/ 1.25 MM 40 Feet / 12.2 M , Co-Polyester string,
I strung it last night, will be play testing and post results on stringnet first, then here
next. I can compare it to Genesis Hexonic and Luxilon Big Banger Ace, I have 3 Head LM Prestiges.